


A Series of Unfortunately Timed Coming Out's

by Queerbutstillhere



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alfred Knows All, Alfred Pennyworth Knows, Asexual Cassandra Cain, Batfamily (DCU), Bisexual Bruce Wayne, Bisexual Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Canon Compliant, Coming Out, Demisexual Damian Wayne, Gay Tim Drake, Gen, I Don't Know Anymore, I don't really like this fic, Ivy is there for way too many of the Bat kids coming out, Poly Jason Todd, Pride, Some Swearing, Some blood mentions, Trans Tim Drake, also timelines, bruce is tired, don't judge me too much, funky is what they are, most of the pairings are just there because it's mentioned or implied, no beta we die like jason todd, pride fic, some suggestive plot, this is mostly batfam, this is mostly just my headcanons okay, what are those
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:28:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24886111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queerbutstillhere/pseuds/Queerbutstillhere
Summary: The batfamily had this gift.This wonderful skill.They are such talented, brilliant, capable individuals.But they are absolutely horrendous at wisely timing coming out to their family members.These are their stories.Aka: "I love you all but could we stop coming out to each other during the middle of battles?"Aaka: That Pride Fic I realized I needed to write.
Relationships: Bart Allen/Tim Drake, Bruce Wayne/Hal Jordan (suggested), Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Damian Wayne/Jonathan Samuel Kent (suggested), Dick Grayson/Wally West (Suggested), Roy Harper/Koriand'r/Jason Todd
Comments: 37
Kudos: 997





	A Series of Unfortunately Timed Coming Out's

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I don't know what happened with this and I kinda hate it!
> 
> But that's happening with a lot of my writing so we're just posting it so I never have to look at it again.
> 
> Just as a preemptive! I actively tagged what I wrote each character as identifying as. If you don't like or have some problems with those headcanons, please scroll past that section or go ahead and click out of this fic. Thank you!
> 
> For everyone else! I hope you enjoy this more than I do!

"I hate him."

Bruce didn't even need to be near Alfred to know he had just raised an eyebrow. He could _hear_ it through their comms. He had just come back from a League meeting, only to find out that there was a bank robbery happening downtown, so he had rerouted and gone to handle that.

"I hate him," he repeated.

He was fuming. Absolutely furious. Why did he even to to these dumb meetings.

"Pray tell, Master Bruce, who is it you hate?"

"Green Lantern with his dumb ring and dumb space cop rules."

"Ah."

"He thinks he's so clever and wise, and he thinks he's better than all of us. Thinks he's better than this team, well if he's better than us, why doesn't he just get out?"

Why was Bruce so furious?

Sure he hated Hal, but this was a new level for him. He was usually much calmer in his complaining.

He was just so fucking annoying.

Alfred, the true gem he is, just sat there and listened to Bruce rant and rave about Hal for nearly ten minutes, broken up by him climbing through vents and preparing to land down on the main floor below. And the whole time, Bruce was just asking himself why he was so upset over Hal Jordan.

“He’s a moron with his superiority complex and hot headed actions. I can’t stand him and his dumb, handsome face.”

Whoa, record scratch, freeze frame, reverse.

Probably wasn’t a good time to freeze actually, armed robber on your five o’clock, Bruce.

Bruce spun, decking the guy as he tried to avoid having a mental breakdown. Which ended up turning into him just shutting off his mind for a bit as he finished fighting. It wasn’t until he had all the attempted robbers tied up, and was watching from the next building as GCPD stormed the bank, that he allowed himself to think about that.

_Dumb, handsome face._

That’s what he had said.

Sure Hal was, objectively, attractive. All the women he ever interacted with seemed to think the Green Lantern was appealing. And he was. He had, objectively of course, a well formed face, strong nose, just handsome all around. And despite the quality of life Bruce assumed he lived, his hair always was well maintained, and the few times he had seen the man's eyes, they were also attractive. This isn’t even talking about the rest of his physical appearance, his toned muscles and-

Ookaaaayy, Brucie. Time for Brucie Wayne to step back and Batman to get back in control. You are _not_ attracted to Hal Jordan, because you’re _not_ attracted to guys.

Right?

Right?!

“Oh my god I’m bi.”

“Pardon me?”

Oh, great. Good job. Just had a gay revalation and came out to your father figure all at once.

“Uh-” Was Bruce’s marvelous response. “You heard that?"

“Indeed I did. Do you have something you’d like to share?”

Alfred sounded . . . amused?

Bruce took a breath and shot a grapple, jumping off the building and swinging back to the car instead of answering. Since it was the middle of the afternoon, he just headed back to the cave, now thinking about this revelation of his. When he got back, Alfred didn’t waste a single moment, just walked over to him.

“Bruce, my boy. I do hope you know that my opinions and affections for you will not change because of who you are attracted to,” he said softly, putting a hand on Bruce’s shoulder.

Bruce looked at him for a moment, then nodded.

“I know, Alfred.”

Alfred smiled and turned to walk away.

“Alfred, are you . . surprised?”

This got a scoff. “Bruce, I’ve heard enough inebriated rambles from you about some young gentlemen’s posterior. I’m rarely surprised by much these days.”

Bruce stared after Alfred as he walked away to pick up Bruce’s cowl and place it in it’s appropriate location.

Well, good to know Alfred knew before he did.

* * *

  
  


Dick laughed a bit, soaring over the vine that had just tried to whip him off his ledge. He spun quickly, grabbing the vine as it whipped after him and using it as a bar, spinning around it and then flipping to the ground, running towards the exit that he knew Bruce was waiting for him behind.

“Where are you going so fast, Little Birdie?”

Dick yelped and quickly twisted as he fell to the ground. Something had grabbed his ankle, and when he looked down, he found out it was, unsurprisingly, a plant. The fifteen year old quickly grabbed at a birdarang, trying to slice it in half.

“Hmm, running away to the big bad bat?”

“Listen lady, I don’t know what your problem is, but-” Finally! Dick sliced through the vine and jumped up, lunging for the door, snagging it and pulling it open. “I got places to be.”

He had no sooner gotten the door open and yelled for Bruce then a vine wrapped tightly around his stomach, chest, throat and mouth, squeezing him like a boa constrictor.

“Robin!”

“Yes, come here, bats. Come get your little bird before it’s too late.”

Ivy turned to Dick as her vines pulled him closer, dangling him upside down. She paced around him like a prowling lion, considering how best to consume her prey.

“What do you think, little bird? Would you like some pollen or a kiss?”

Dick looked over, Bruce was struggling through the different plant traps Ivy had set in his way. She really wasn’t making it easy for him.

“No thanks,” He said, thinking quickly to stall for time. “I like boys.”

Ivy froze, looking at him. Bruce stopped fighting through the plants. Everything was silent for a moment.

“Well. And girls. But like. I have a boyfriend. So still no thanks?”

“Oh. . . Um. Congratulations?”

She completely missed Bruce lunging and got nailed in the side as he body slammed her, throwing a few exploding batarangs up at the ivy plant holding Dick before pouncing on Poison Ivy to detain her. Dick quickly detangled himself from the plants after he hit the ground and popped up, going over to stand beside Bruce, who gave him a side glance, but didn’t say anything.

He didn’t bring it up until they were sitting in the batcar, heading back home that night.

“Boyfriend?”

“Yeah. . . I meant to tell you. . . eventually.” Dick glanced over at Bruce, wondering how he would react.

“School or vigilante?”

“Vigilante.”

“Is it Wallace?”

“. . . yeah.”

Bruce nodded a few times, then looked over at him. “He’s a good kid. But.”

Uh oh. Dick’s heart leapt into his throat, and he looked down fiddling with the edge of his cape.

“I hope you know you could have told me, at any time? You didn’t have to say it as a joke or defense against Poison Ivy.”

“I know,” Dick practically whispered.

“And we’ll have to have some rule changes for when you and Wallace are together-”

“Oh my god, Bruce.”

“And you’ll have to tell Alfred.”

“He. . . he knows.”

Bruce snorted. “Of course he does. Alfred always knows.”

* * *

  
  


It had been a long day.

A truly, painfully long day.

And Tim wasn’t even halfway done with patrols yet.

But listen, sometimes you’re minding your damn business and all the rogues show up to attack city hall and it’s just exhausting, okay? Purely exhausting.

Not only were the rogues attacking but the cops weren’t doing shit and honestly Tim was so done with this city. Why did he still live here, again? Oh right, because he’s Robin.

He ducked under Two-Face’s punch and lunged forwards, sliding and doing a sweeping kick, knocking him down and immediately kicking at his stomach. Fight fast, fight dirty, but fight smart, that’s how you stay alive. He immediately flipped up to his feet, turning and knocking Riddler down with a smack to the nose from his Bo staff.

Across the room, Batman and Nightwing were practically forced back to back, caved in by Joker, Penguin and Poison Ivy. Why on earth all of the rogues were working together, Tim had absolutely no idea, but again he was so tired. And he was struggling to breathe. And he couldn’t quite keep moving like he needed to. He was tired and sore and just done with this.

Then he got hit hard. Right in the gut.

He gasped as the air was pulled from his lungs quite forcefully. Two-face had no mercy on him and hit the poor vigilante right in the chest with a heavy boot, sending him tumbling backwards until he tripped and landed on his ass. He couldn’t breathe. His breath wasn’t coming back, oh god he was going to suffocate. His binder was too tight and it was pressing in on his ribs and his lungs and he was going to suffocate like this. Tears started streaming out from behind his domino mask as he choked, rolling onto his side.

In reality, he wouldn’t suffocate, but his brain was too busy telling him he was going to die because he had chosen to wear his binder on patrol, because _he had dysphoria._ His body literally was going to be the death of him.

“Whoa! Whoa! Harvey, hold on! Somethings wrong with the kid.”

Tim lurched away as someone grabbed his shoulders, thrashing away from them, hitting blindly.

“Hey, hey, it's okay little bird.”

Tim’s blurry eyes focused on a familiar face. Who was it?

“Hey, it’s just me- Piss off Harvey! Go get Harley!"

Catwoman? What was she doing?

“What’s wrong? Can’t get your breath back?”

Why was she helping? Tim shook his head to her, grabbing at his shirt, and his throat. Why couldn’t he get air?

“Okay. Okay, just stay calm, we’re gonna help ya, yeah?”

Suddenly a bright white face was over him, grinning. “Hiya, kiddo!”

“Harley, he took a hit and can’t breathe.”

“Huh. . . “ Harley scowled at him, leaning on her giant hammer.

His binder. He needed his binder off. He started grabbing at the clasps on his shirt with shaky hands, and Selina, thankfully, understood, undoing the rest of the buttons. He grabbed at the undershirt next, trying to pull at it, get it up enough. He just needed this binder off and he _didn’t know why he was trusting these women that wanted to kill him but_ **_here he was._**

“Shirt’s too tight?”

Tim shook his head and managed to gasp out the word. “Binder.”

Selina stared at him for a moment, clearly confused. Harley suddenly shoved her way in, holding a large suit jacket that looked oddly like Harvey’s.

“Kiddo, you need to listen to me and calm down, lay flat on your back.”

Selina helped push Tim down, holding his arms gently.

“Okay, good. Now I need you to try taking small breaths. I know it's not going to feel good, I know ya feel like shit right now, but I need ya to try, okay darling?”

Tim tried and the first few breaths felt like fire. But then he was able to start getting small little gaspy breaths in.

“Good. You’re doing great, now I just need you to focus on my voice and keep breathing, okay?”

Tim looked up at Selina, who gave him a reassuring smile, taking a dramatic breath to remind him what he was supposed to be doing.

“In and out, nice and easy and small. You’re okay. Panicking yerself aint gonna be helping no one, sugar. Now, do ya feel like ya can get that binder off?”

Tim nodded, and carefully sat up, Selina helped pull him to his feet, and the two women ushered him to an empty hallway, Selina blocking the doorway while Harley held up the suit jacket to act as a changing curtain as Tim quickly but carefully pulled off his binder, pulling his shirts back on over and buttoning them up. He felt . . . weird and kind of exposed now, but he could definitely breathe better.

“Ya decent back there?”

“Yeah,” he croaked out, throat raw.

“Okay.” Harley dropped the jacket and offered him the friendliest smile he’d ever seen before. This one was real and true and _nice?_ “Can you take a few real deep breaths for me?”

They stayed in the hallway for a bit until Harley felt like Tim was breathing well enough. Then she patted his shoulder, draped the suit jacket around his shoulders, and turned to walk away.

“Hey, Harley?”

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“Thank you.”

Harley just grinned at him, back to her chaotic insane smile.

“Don’t thank me now, I’ll prolly havta beat you up next time I see ya.”

“ROBIN!”

Harley flipped backwards right as Nightwing appeared, swinging at her with his batons.

“Hey! It’s Big Bird!”

“Leave Robin alone!”

“Nightwing, wait!” Tim called after him, watching the two of them engage in combat.

Selina was nowhere to be found, which meant she had sidled off before anyone could arrest her. Tim trailed after Nightwing and Harley, the two flipping and spinning and being overly theatrical.

“What were you doing with Robin!?”

“Saving his life, maybe!?”

“Yeah right! You probably tried to hypnotize him or something!”

“You should pay more attention to your partners and their binding habits. He _could have died, Nightwing_!”

“What does that mean?!”

Oh boy, time to make a swift exit stage right.  
  


Back at that cave that night, Tim was getting checked out with Alfred and was telling him about the incident when Dick stormed into the med section, Bruce right behind him.

“What happened? What did Harley do or say to you? Are you okay?!”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Dick,” Tim muttered, looking down at his legs.

“Robin, what happened? All we know is Two-Face hit you pretty hard and then suddenly Harley and Catwoman were standing over you,” Bruce said, stepping over.

“Oh boy.” Suddenly, Tim couldn’t breathe again, looking up at Alfred, begging for help.

“Would you like me to tell them?” Alfred asked softly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Tim nodded rapidly.

“Master Timothy is transgender, he was having troubles breathing due to his chest binder.”

Tim could literally see the “Error: 404” signs above Dick and Bruce’s heads. He waited, feeling more and more nervous with every moment that passed. He had been lying to them for so long. It had been nearly a year now. Bruce spoke first.

“Wait. But I looked up your past medical records. . . it said-”

“I know. I hacked the computer. I’m sorry.”

They just stared at him for another few seconds.

“You were wearing a _binder on patrol!?_ ” Dick exclaimed finally. “Do you have any idea how risky that is!?”

This got Tim to splutter a bit. Wait, what was happening? Dick was freaking out because . . . because he was wearing a binder?

“Tim that’s not safe! That’s really bad for your health, hell look at what happened tonight!”

“I know. . . I know. It’s just- I couldn’t _not_ have it.”

Dick’s face softened and he walked over, sitting next to Tim and pulling him into a hug. Tim leaned into him, even as he looked up at Bruce, waiting for the Batman’s reaction. Bruce wasn’t looking at him, looking like he was stuck in calculating mode, which wasn’t necessarily a good sign.

“Timmy, I want you to know that we accept you, and if you ever need _anything_ from me, please just give me a call.”

Tim nodded, pressing his face into Dick’s shoulder. Then someone was sitting down behind him, strong arms wrapping around the both of them. Bruce.

“We’ll look into safer binding methods for your uniform,” Bruce murmured softly.

Tim let out a soft breath, smiling into Dick’s shoulder. This wasn’t the way he planned on doing this, but here he was. It was done and he was okay.

“Though we do really need to stop coming out to people mid battle,” Dick said softly.

All three of them burst out into laughter.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Honestly, if people could just _stop breaking into Jason’s safehouses_ he would be SO grateful.

At first it was Tim. The little brat would just tumble in through the window, eat his leftovers, fall asleep on the sofa, and in general just be an annoyance.

Then that other girl Bruce had adopted, Cassandra, had started following in Tim’s example, doing literally the exact same thing, except the two of them ate opposite when it came to his leftovers so now he literally had _No_ food.

And like, yes this was a problem. But it wasn’t that big of a problem, generally. Except it became a problem, starting the week Roy and Kori started living with him. They just started showing up, generally for weeks at a time, and made his safehouses their base of operations. Then they’d disappear for another few weeks, and then come back.

Now I’m sure you’re wondering, why is this such a problem? They’re just your friends, right?

Wrong.

Jason had been dating them for nearly a year. Yep. Both of them. Polyamory is a thing. Do you have a problem with that? Jason has a glock with your name on it if you do.

And it’s not that Jason thought his family would have an issue with it, it’s just that he thought his family would have an issue with it. That and he just really wanted his family to butt out of his life. He knew what he was doing. It was fine.

So yeah, so what if he expressly never intended to tell his family. That was his choice.

But they wouldn’t _stop breaking into his house._

The first person who found out was Tim, and this wasn’t that big of a concern, the punk just went ‘Okay Cool’ and returned to microwaving ramen while both Jason and Roy watched in horror.

Duke found out next, and he had seemed a little confused, but accepting. Then Damian because he had just _known_ because he’s _creepy like that_. And slowly one by one it seemed like the family ended up finding out.

Except Dick.

One day, Roy was in town, and happened to be staying with Jason. They had gone out for dinner, and had barely kept their hands off each other the whole ride back home. The second the safehouse door was shut behind them, Roy was being pressed against it as Jason eagerly kissed him. They started making their way through the safehouse towards the bedroom, ditching clothes as they went.

Needless to say they were both so focused that the sudden voice nearly scared them both shitless.

“Hey! Okay! I didn’t need to see this!”

They lurched away from each other like they had been burned and Jason whipped around to see Dick sitting on the kitchen island, in the middle of stitching his arm up.

“Dick, what the _fuck_ are you doing here!?” Jason exclaimed, glaring at him, hands on his hips.

It occurred to him that he was literally just wearing his jeans at this point.

“Well, I just thought I’d stop by and steal some medical supplies so I didn’t, ya know, bleed out. Didn’t think you’d be back before I was gone, and didn’t know you’d be in the process of shoving your hands down one of my friends pants. Hi, Roy.”

“Hi, Dick,” Roy said with a chuckle, shaking his head and reaching up to run a hand through his hair.

He had grown a beard while they were apart, and while Jason loved the look, he was not enjoying the start of a beard burn.

“Are you two?” Dick asked, gesturing vaguely between them with his needle.

“Are we what?” Jason snapped, marching over and washing his hands before snatching the needle from Dick and efficiently finishing stitching the wound.

“Dating. I mean, I kind of assumed from how you were desperately going at it, but I’m often wrong when it comes to this family.”

"You could say that," Roy said with a shrug and a grin.

"Noted," Dick said with a nod.

And Jason could tell that this was going to come back and bite him in the ass later.

Guess what, he was right.

A few weeks, maybe even a month later, Roy was back in star city, he had left two weeks ago, anyway. And then Kori showed up. She had this habit of just showing up randomly, never given any warning, not even indicating if she was in the same country or even the same planet as them. She just dropped in front of him as he was coming back from patrol and he nearly crashed his motorcycle, stopped only by her picking it up.

“Jason!” She exclaimed, smiling cheerfully at him.

“Princess!” He exclaimed, leaning back slightly so he didn’t fall face first off the front.

Though that would have him falling into her, and that wasn’t that bad. . . oh but the bike.

They had hurried back to Jason’s current safehouse - he had moved so maybe the bats would stop breaking in - and stayed up in each other’s arms until the sun came up. The next morning, Kori dragged him out for a late brunch, because while she “absolutely adored his cooking” there was also a specific diner she loved eating at every time they were in Gotham. And Jason was too weak to say no, so he obliged her, and they went off to the diner, sitting and chatting, grinning at each other and just messing around.

Now if Jason had been a little less busy making heart eyes at Kori and a little more concerned with watching his surroundings, he would have noticed an absolutely gobsmacked Dick Grayson who had walked into the diner to get lunch.

But he didn’t, and Dick didn’t approach them.

He didn’t approach Jason until a week later, they were working together to catch Harley, who was running around causing chaos in the Narrows. They were giving chase down a particularly long alley when Dick decided to strike up a casual conversation.

“So. I saw Kori was here a few weeks back?”

Jason glanced over for a split second before he had to focus on his footing in order to leap onto the next roof. Dick was right behind him.

“Yeah. She stopped by for a bit.”

Dick was silent for a bit, and Jason was confused. Why was he bothered about this? Maybe he was jealous because Kori didn’t come say hi to him. I mean, that does seem like it would be a bit of an awkward conversation, what with them being exes, but . . . It’s Dick.

“Does Roy know?"

“What?” Jason asked, as he shot a grapple and snagged Harley’s ankle mid flip, catching her and yanking her so she missed the ledge of the next building and fell with a scream. The dull thud was enough to tell him she had hit the side of the building.

“You know, it’s weird enough that you’re dating my best friend, but for fucks sake, Hood, you’re _cheating on him with my other friend!?”_

“ _WHAT!?”_

The conversation lulled as they pulled Harley up and tied her up, having her sit on the gravel roof while they talked, Dick turning to Jason, hands on his hips.

“You think I’m _cheating_ on Roy with Kori!?”

“Well, what do you _expect_ me to think when I see you two all over each other, her hands were practically down your pants, Hood!”

“And when exactly did you see us!?” Jason snapped.

“You guys were eating at that diner, on Tuesday. I came in for lunch.”

Oh god. This was horrible. Dick legitimately thought Jason was cheating on Roy with Kori. He really thought that. Was it worse to let him think that or to just come out with the truth.

“Hey, Hood, I know ya fucked up but cheatin ain't good, sugar,” Harley inputted, looking thoroughly amused.

" _Shut_ _Up Harleen,”_ Jason snapped at her. “And I’m not cheating!”

“You’re not- Oh, did you and Roy break up, I’m so sorry-”

“No we didn’t break up,” Jason hissed, reaching up and pulling off his helmet.

“Wait what- I’m confused.”

“God you’re an asshole! Why can’t you people mind your fucking business!?”

Dick stared at him, then looked down Harley, still clearly confused.

“Ya know, aggression when being questioned can often be a sign of defensive lying.”

“I’m not cheating on them!! I’m dating both of them!!” Jason practically yelled, pointing at Dick with his helmet.

It took Dick nearly a minute before he talked again, just standing there in silence, staring at him.

“So- So that sounds like cheating to me-”

“ _No._ ”

“Wait, do ya mean like. . . “ Harley trailed off when Jason shot her a glare.

“I’m dating them both, Bitchard. I’m dating Roy and Kori. Roy is dating me and Kori, and Kori is dating me and Roy. We’re all dating each other, dumbass.”

Dick’s cheeks almost immediately started turning red. Jason knew his face was already bright red.

“Oh my god,” Dick breathed out.

Jason just groaned and rubbed his face. “I hate you.”

“I’m so sorry, Hood, I didn’t know-”

“Just. Just shut up. Shut up and don’t tell anyone, okay. It’s none of your damn business and it’s definitely none of the others business.”

“Yeah. . . um. . . Congratulations?”

“Just shut up.”

“Okay. Okay. . . . I’m sorry for-”

“OH My GOd!”

Silence.

“Does no one else know?”

“. . . Alfred does.”

“Oh. Of _course._ Alfred _always_ knows.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Tim wasn’t sure when or how or why

But at some point. He had started dating Bart.

And he wasn’t, by any means, upset with this. He loved Bart. He loved him as a best friend, and he loved him as a boyfriend. But, it’s not like they had actually outright asked each other out. It’s just like, one day they went from hanging out as bros to kissing and sleeping together and Tim wasn’t quite sure where the break over had been. It had felt as natural as just breathing. And due to this, Tim may have neglected to tell anyone in the family.

Well, except Alfred, but Alfred always knows.

Besides that, He wasn’t sure if he had even told anyone in the family he was gay. He had dated girls in the past, even though he had almost always known he was gay. It’s what happens when you’re the child of a celebrity in the media. They expect you to date people, and when you’re a boy, they expect you to date girls. Even though he knew he had always liked boys. 

And you’d think it’d be hard to hide a relationship with Bart, and you’re right. Bart and Tim are both _very_ affection starved. They sit in each other's laps and cuddle and kiss and sweet talk and all those gross couple things. So the only way the Wayne’s didn’t know about the relationship was that Bart was very rarely at the manor or batcave. And when he was, Tim was careful to keep their affections platonic except when they were in private. He meant to tell Bruce. He really did. Someday. When the world wasn’t ending or when they weren’t dying.

So never.

But he did mean to tell Bruce.

And then prom happened.

Bart had been so eager about being able to take Tim to prom their junior year, that Tim just couldn’t say no. Well, actually he had tried, but Bart had given him the puppy dog eyes and Tim had just crumpled because it’s _Bart._

So now he had this problem of _having_ to tell Bruce before prom, which was a _problem_ because prom was in three weeks. 

And then it was in two weeks.

And now it’s next weekend and he _needs to tell Bruce soon._

He asked Alfred about it, and Alfred advised him to just be truthful and not stress over it too much. He advised him to not make a big deal out of it. And Tim was going to take that advice, and ignore it completely.

Why, you ask? 

Because he’s Tim Drake and that’s what he does.

What ended up happening, in reality, was this.

They were with the Justice League, fighting a villain of no specific designation (Listen, as the author, I’m far too tired to sit there and think up a background or find a plot moment where Tim was helping the justice league fight a large scale villain. I’ll leave it to the imagination) and, naturally, Kid Flash was there helping the Flash. Naturally. Now it was fairly well known in Young Justice that Bart and Tim were dating, I mean, how could you not know when they’re literally always touching, but outside of their friends, not many people knew. Including the Justice League.

So Tim had made sure to remind Bart of this, and Bart had pouted, but TIm had insisted so they agreed to pretend like they weren’t dating for the day.

Well, that only works so well, when your boyfriend is putting himself in mortal danger every three seconds. Both boyfriends. Both were constantly fretting over the other. Tim couldn’t help but keep an eye on the blur that was Bart, wincing every time he got hit and breathing a sigh of relief every time he popped back up uninjured.

Unfortunately, this meant that Tim kept losing concentration on his fights. Like right now, when he had watched Bart get chucked into the side of a building and was now nervously waiting for him to get back up. He had stalled, bo staff half raised as he watched the lump on the ground that was his boyfriend. 

And then he got hit. Hard.

The blow knocked the air out of him as he smacked into a car and then fell in an awkward position between the car and the curb it was parked next to. His body was screaming in pain and he felt like blacking out as he pushed himself up, looking around for his bo staff so he could defend himself. It was eight feet away, having probably spiraled out his hand.

“Red Robin!”

Tim looked up just as Batman appeared, deflecting another blow that would have done a lot of damage, and then standing protectively over Tim, battling off his attacker. The moment the danger was gone, Batman whirled around to Tim, who was still laying in his uncomfortable position, groaning in pain, he was laying on his left arm, the forearm sticking up between his body and the curb, and his right leg was sprawled out on the curb, pressed against a pole. Yup. That one was gonna bruise.

“Is anything broken?”

Red Robin took a deep breath, considering, taking stock of his body, noting everything that ached and everything that was in pain, making sure nothing was broken that he could tell. It was difficult to tell, due to everything just screaming in pain.

“I don’t think so,” he bit out, offering his right arm. 

Batman reached down, carefully slipping his arm under Tim’s and pulling him out from the awkward position, setting him up on the hood of the car. . . . Did he smell blood?

“We need to get you checked as soon as we get back,” Bruce rumbled, reaching up and touching the side of Tim’s head. 

Tim yelped in pain and when Bruce pulled his hand down, his gauntlet had blood on it. So yes, he did smell blood.

“What happened?” Bruce asked softly, glancing over his shoulder as the fight continued North.

“I got distracted, didn’t see the hit before it was too late.”

“Red Robin, “ Bruce chided gently, giving him a disappointed, but concerned look.

Tim glanced over, noting that Bart was gone, he sighed softly, throwing a quick glance around, but not finding him anyway.

“Sorry, B, but you know how it is. I’m gay, I can’t focus.”

Silence stretched out. Then Tim realized what he had just said. 

“Oh god-”

“Red Robin-”

“Oh GOD.”

“Rob-”

“THAT’S NOT HOW I MEANT TO COME OUT TO YOU!!!!”

Bruce was smirking. Why was he smirking, smirking wasn’t good. Or was it good? Was that his amused smirk? Why can’t Tim tell. Oh god, does he have a concussion? He probably has a concussion. Just his luck, he gets a fucking concussion a week before Prom. Bart was going to kill him.

“Red. It’s okay,” Bruce said softly, putting a hand on Tim’s knee.

“I- Are- You-”

“I’m sure. Now, come on, let’s get you someplace safe.”

Tim slid off the car and let Bruce wrap his arm around his shoulders, helping him walk on a very sore leg back to the batcar.

“You know, Dick came out in a similar way. . . making a joke to Poison Ivy.”

Tim nodded, he had heard the story before.

“And I came out to Alfred in the same manner, accidentally, I mean.”

“I’m going to Prom with Bart on saturday,” Tim spit out, looking up at him, watching his reaction carefully.

“. . . Oh. You’re dating a speedster?”

“Yeah. . . “

“You and Dick are a lot more alike than I thought.” Bruce paused here, glancing down at Tim. “Did Alfred know?”

“. . . Uh- I never told him, but I think he knows about Bart.”

“Of course.”

“Alfred always knows,” Tim agreed.

“You know, one day, I’m hoping my kids will feel comfortable coming out to me in literally any situation other than in the middle of a fight,” Bruce said, but the tone of his voice indicated he was teasing.

Tim chuckled, embarrassed. “Oops?”

* * *

  
  


Cass watched in silence as Bruce and Pamela worked together. The two were combining their expertise in different areas to work together to capture Firefly, who had recently taken to terrorizing citizens and specifically destroying public gardens, as well as Ivy’s gardens.

Ivy had not been pleased about this, and while Bruce didn’t generally prefer working with the Rogues, they had a mutual interest and benefits from this case, and there was a lot more evidence in her gardens then he had been able to collect anywhere else.

They were currently in her lair working on tracing back some chemical they had found on scene that Bruce hoped would lead them back to Firefly’s current hideout. Cass could have helped, she was smart, she probably knew everything they were doing, but they hadn’t asked for her help, so she would sit and observe. Wait patiently. Watch.

“Hey, you there, little bat.”

Cass looked up at Ivy, then around for Bruce, who was on the other side of the room. She pointed at herself and Ivy nodded. So she slid off the table she had sat on and walked over, tilting her head.

“Yes?” She asked softly, looking down at the things Ivy was looking at.

“I need an extra set of hands and big broody bat went off to work on something else.”

“Sure.”

So she stood there, helping pass Ivy vials and tools for a few minutes. 

“Okay, grab me that pink power.”

Cass looked around. There were two little bottles with pink powder. One was darker than the other. . . Cass frowned at them both and reached out, picking them both up and then turning to Ivy, giving her a questioning face.

“Oh, dear, no this one,” Ivy said, taking the light pink one from her. “The dark one is a concentrated pheromone. Wouldn’t want ya getting real horny, now would we?”

“Oh . . . “ Cass said softly. Then she smirked and giggled a bit.

“What’s so funny, kid?” Ivy asked, raising an eyebrow at her. 

“It’s not like it would affect me any.”

“Oh? And why’s that? Bat-dad got you on vaccinations?”

Well, yes. . . but.

“No. I’m asexual,” Cass told her with another little giggle.

Ivy looked over at her, seeming a little surprised, then Pamela just chuckled and shook her head.

“You know, I think I’ve heard more of you kids coming out then Batman over there has.”

Cass just shrugged and smiled. She had yet to tell Bruce, but it didn’t really concern her. His reaction didn’t concern her anyway. She knew all the others - except Damian - had come out and been accepted with nothing more then maybe a few accidental blunders. So she knew they wouldn’t react badly, so frankly she didn’t care if they knew. It’s not like it was really that much of their business.

“Who’s coming out now?” Bruce asked, sounding a little tired.

“Your kid.”

“Oh? Blackbat?”

“I’m ace.”

“Ah. Okay. I lo-”

“I know, Batman.”

Bruce smiled and nodded and turned back to his work. Cass just laughed a bit and looked back at Ivy.

“And for the record, kid, that pheromone would work on you in some way, I’m just not quite sure how”

At this, Cass sighed. “I know. I was just making a joke.”

Ivy patted her shoulder and continued working. Cass just shook her head and returned to her seat to watch them, waiting to be needed again.

* * *

  
  


Damian dodged under Harley’s swing, watching for her next move and lightly dancing out of the way.

“Aw, Birdie you’re no fun,” she pouted, lunging after him, still graceful in her movements.

She wasn’t really trying to hit him, just like he wasn’t really trying to hit her. At this point it was more of theatrics for the public than an actual fight. Damian couldn’t remember the last time he actually properly intended to fight Harley or arrest her. They mostly just let her do her own thing as long as she wasn’t causing the general public any issues.

Like today, Damian was just entertaining her while Batman and Poison Ivy actually spared in the distance.

“Harley, I have a question for you,” Damian inquired, ducking under a swing from her bat.

“Whats up, little bird?” She asked, dodging his severely pulled punch.

“How does one know you’re attracted to someone?”

Harley hesitated before kicking at him, then she actually grabbed him by the cape, throwing him towards an empty alley that wouldn’t be seen by the public. He let himself be tossed that way, catching himself before he stumbled into a wall, and then slipped inside. She followed him in, and then leaned her bat against the wall.

“Why ya asking?” She asked him, crossing her arms. She looked confused.

Damian frowned. “I’m not here for therapist hours, Harleen.”

“No, of course not, but most kids ya age don’t ask those types of questions.”

Damian sighed, looking away. The reasons for his question were . . . complicated. He had of course, done some research into the matter, but internet articles were only so reliable, versus someone like Harley, who had gone to med school and had experience in this field.

“Well. Whaddya mean by attracted? Like a, I think they’re cute and wanna date ‘em attraction or a, Holy shit they’re so hot, I wanna fuck ‘em, type attraction?”

“I-” Damian scowled harder at her. Her eyebrows went up. “Well. I don’t know.”

“Huh. . . You’ve never-” she stopped here, tilting her head. “Robin, do ya really not know what it’s like to be attracted to someone.”

Damian sighed, reaching up and rubbing his cheek. The mask was itching, and while they were about 80% certain Harley knew their identities, he wasn’t about to make that 100%.

“I wasn’t . . . exactly exposed to romantic love, growing up. And I was more or less taught, for all my mother tried, that even familial love was conditional and to be earned. I only experienced love as a positive thing and not a weakness once I came here, and it took me a long time to recognize that romantic love was normal,” he said softly.

Maybe stop baring your soul to a villain, Damian.

Suddenly Harley was beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder. But she didn’t say anything so after a moment, he continued.

“Even after I recognized this, it took me a while to realize I never really felt attracted to . . . well, anyone. Boys, girls, no one. I genuinely never viewed anyone with more than objective knowledge that they were attractive. . . . And then, there’s this one boy.

He glanced up at her and she offered a reassuring smile. 

“He’s kind and sweet and I’ve known him for years now, and I always knew, as we grew up together, that he was cute, and then slowly that cute turned into handsome, but this was all objective thoughts and I never _felt_ anything towards him except maybe familial love. . . “

“Until recently, I’d guess?” Harley inputted, and Damian just nodded.

“And it’s . . . new and unfamiliar and I’m unsure what it is.”

“What does it feel like?” Harley asked gently.

“It’s like . . .” here he hesitated again, because he wasn’t comfortable sharing this with his family, why the hell would he be comfortable telling Harley. “Every time we’re together, I want to hold his hand and be close to him, and every time he smiles at me I can’t help but smile back. And when I look at him my chest almost hurts and I feel . . . happy, I suppose? I think about him constantly, and when we go a while without talking or seeing each other, I start worrying and overthinking. And there’s nothing more important to me then making him smile, and making sure he’s happy and safe.”

Harley giggled a bit, smiling up at Damian. Because yes, after years, he was finally, at 18, taller than Harley Quinn.

“Kiddo,” she started. “I don’t think yer just attracted to him. I think yer in love with him.”

Damian stared at her, his brain split between rejecting this information and having a panic attack because, Holy Shit, he was in love with him, wasn’t he.

“But ya say you’ve never felt this way or been attracted to other people before?”

Damian just dully shook his head, not sure what else to say.

“Just a thought but ya might consider looking into demisexual and other things on the Ace spectrum, might find that one of those fit ya.” She reached up and ruffled his hair. “And little bird? Go get your man.”

Damian left that fight, still a little out of it because of his realization.

A week later, after much thought and research and consideration, he had decided that Harley was right. He was demisexual. And he was going to tell Bruce.

Although, dangling upside down over a pit of acid was probably not the best place to do it. But hey, if he was going to die, he was going to die with his father knowing this.

“Father,” Damian called, even as he struggled, trying to get himself pulled up to grab the chain slowly lowering him.

The Joker was really pulling out all the stops right now.

“Yes, Robin?”

“I have something to tell you.”

The blood rushing to his head wasn’t fun, and his heart pounding certainly wasn’t helping that.

Bruce, who was in the middle of trying to save himself from being sawed in half, barely looked over, but then again, Damian couldn’t exactly blame him.

“Robin, son. I love you,” Bruce started, struggling with his bindings. “But if you are about to come out to me and tell me you’re lgbtq or something to that affect, _please_ can we save it for when we get back to the cave?”

Damian raised an eyebrow, even as he started throwing his body, causing himself to swing back and forth, he needed more momentum, or maybe he could swing himself hard enough to catch himself on the side of the vat before he got dropped in.

“Fine, but if we die, know I tried to tell you.”

Spoiler alert, they didn’t die. They both got out safely, arrested the joker, safely transported him to Arkham, and then met back at the batcave. Bruce walked straight up to him, looking him in the eyes. Damian had to tilt his head up slightly to do so.

“I’m sorry for brushing you off, Damian. What was it you wanted to tell me?”

“It’s fine, Father. I know you’re tired of people coming out to you on the battlefield.”

Bruce just gave a weary sigh and smile and shrugged.

“I just wanted to tell you, I’m demisexual, and I’m going to ask Jonathan out.”

Bruce’s eyebrows came together, and he frowned slightly. “Demisexual?”

“Yes it’s. . . “ Damian hesitated, taking a moment to read Bruce’s expression and found it to be confused. “I’m not attracted to anyone I haven’t formed an emotional bond with.”

“Oh. . . Oh! Okay.”

Damian smiled lightly, nodding.

“Well, I’m proud of you for telling me,” Bruce said with a soft smile. “And I hope Jon says yes.”

“Yes. . . me too.”

Bruce just grinned, ruffled Damian’s hair affectionately - earning a tt in response - and then turned to walk away. Then he stopped halfway and turned back.

“Did Alfred know?”

“I never told him, so I have no idea.”

“You never have to tell Alfred. He always knows.”

Damian chuckled. “Yes. . . you are right. . . He does seem to . . ."

**Author's Note:**

> Hi again! Thanks for reading :)
> 
> Kudos and Comments are absolutely amazing and lovely.
> 
> Check me out on Tumblr @queerbutstillhere and @queerbutstillhere-writes!
> 
> Thank y'all!!!


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